15 gang members sentenced to prison

A total of 15 gang members were sentenced to prison for two to 25 years on Friday for multiple gang-related crimes in east China's Shandong Province.

Wu Xuezhan was sentenced to 25 years in prison for organizing and leading gang crimes, according to the Dongchangfu District People's Court in Liaocheng.

Nine members of the gang were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 32 months to 20 years for participating in gang crimes, while five others were sentenced to prison terms of between 26 months and two years for illegal detention, said the court.

Since 2010, Wu has organized the other defendants to conduct gang-related offenses, such as violently collecting debts, according to the court.

The gang drew public attention in April 2016 when Yu Huan, 22, injured some of the gang members after he and his mother were beaten and insulted.

Yu was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2017 by the Intermediate People's Court of Liaocheng after he stabbed a debt collector to death in defense and injured three others, two seriously.

In June, the Shandong Higher People's Court cut Yu's life sentence to five years in prison for intentional injury after Yu appealed.